Crane (NYSE:CR) Shares Sold by 44 Wealth Management LLC

44 Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Crane (NYSE:CR) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,598 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 929 shares during the quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Crane were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CR. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Crane during the 3rd quarter valued at $515,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Crane by 328.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 23,790 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after acquiring an additional 18,236 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Crane by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Crane by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Crane by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 135,191 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $20,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.14% of the company’s stock.

Crane Trading Down 3.7 %

NYSE CR opened at $165.23 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.84. The stock has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.25. Crane has a 52 week low of $121.04 and a 52 week high of $188.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Crane (NYSE:CR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The conglomerate reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crane Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from Crane’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Crane’s dividend payout ratio is 18.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CR. StockNews.com cut Crane from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Crane from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Crane from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Crane from $176.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Crane presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Crane news, VP Alejandro Alcala sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.96, for a total transaction of $392,011.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,635,354.48. This represents a 6.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Crane

Crane Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered industrial products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Aerospace & Electronics, Process Flow Technologies, and Engineered Materials.